The hospital took sixth place after receiving 10,899 votes. It moved up five spots from eleventh position in 2013.

The recognition for NSHC comes from Soliant Health, a specialty healthcare staffing provider. A record number of more than 70 entries were submitted during an eleven-month-long nomination period. Hospitals were selected based on beauty of the hospital as well as its support to the community.

]]>23588Troopers Investigate Failure to Salvage a Grizzly; Meanwhile, Bear Population Surveyedhttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/09/15/troopers-investigate-failure-to-salvage-a-grizzly-meanwhile-bear-population-surveyed/
Tue, 15 Sep 2015 20:30:51 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=18396Alaska Wildlife Troopers are searching for the person or people who failed to salvage the meat of a bear shot near Cape Nome.]]>http://www.knom.org/wp-audio/2015/09/2015-09-15-Bears.mp3

Between three bears spotted at the edge of town and another grizzly shot and left to die at the Cape Nome quarry, bears are out and about in the Nome area.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game issued a brown bear advisory last week after sightings near Icy View, the Norton Sound Hospital, and along the Beam Road. Meanwhile, Alaska Wildlife Troopers are searching for the person or people who failed to salvage the meat of a bear killed earlier this month. In an online dispatch released Friday, Troopers said the bear was shot near Cape Nome around Sept. 5.

Despite the recent sightings, Letty Hughes said the number of bears is not unusual.

“It has been an excellent fish year. It’s been an excellent berry year, so that helps out. But it’s probably no more than usual,” said Hughes, an assistant area wildlife biologist with the Fish and Game. “When you consider where Nome is situated — we’ve got the coast, we also have the Nome River and the Snake River — bears are just passing through.”

This year, Hughes said the department has actually received fewer reports of bears breaking into cabins. Still, she said the bears are out there — and the population seems to be doing quite well.

“We hear reports from folks that they see cubs with sows,” Hughes said. “So even without having any definite numbers, they appear to be healthy.”

And definite numbers are on the way. Hughes said Fish and Game teamed up with the National Park Service earlier this year to survey the brown bear population on the Seward Peninsula.

“We spent two weeks doing this bear survey, using a lot of small plane time,” she said. “A lot of hours were spent flying around the peninsula this spring.”

A biometrician is using the data collected to estimate the bear population, and Hughes said the final count will be released later this fall. The number will be another important piece of information about the local animals, which Hughes said are also analyzed when they’re hunted and salvaged properly.

“We gather information that way on our brown bears,” she said. “A hunter has 30 days to get their bear sealed. What sealing requires is bringing in the hide with the claws attached, the evidence of sex attached, and the skull. We pull a tooth, measure the skull, and look at the hide for any abnormalities — anything that might be interesting.”

With current sightings, Hughes said everyone should continue to practice basic bear safety. Make noise and maintain a safe distance while viewing bears, hiking, and picking berries. And keep trash contained so fish and game scraps don’t attract animals. Hughes said anyone who sees a bear can report sightings to the Department of Fish and Game, the Troopers, or the Nome Police Department.

]]>18396Five Watched, Three Treated for Botulism after Seperate Koyuk Seal Flipper Mealshttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/05/15/five-watched-three-treated-for-botulism-after-seperate-koyuk-seal-flipper-meals/
Sat, 16 May 2015 04:28:37 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=16399Five people were under observation for after two separate meals of fermented seal flipper in Koyuk. Only three were given the anti-toxin for botulism.]]>http://www.knom.org/wp-audio/2015/05/2015-05-15-Koyuk-Botulism-Update.mp3

First three and now five people have fallen ill or been taken under medical observation after two separate meals of fermented seal flipper in the Seward Peninsula community of Koyuk have been linked to the toxic bacteria that causes botulism.

According to state Department of Epidemiology officials, the first person fell ill after sharing a meal with six others in Koyuk last Friday, May 4. That patient had mild symptoms—dry mouth and dizziness—and sought medical help in Nome. No one else from the meal felt sick—a stroke of luck that medical epidemiologist Dr. Michael Cooper says makes botulism so difficult to control.

“The toxin distributes itself very unevenly in the food, whether it’s seal oil, seal flipper, beaver tail, whatever,” he said. “There may be a part of that meal that has a very high concentration, that will kill you or make you very sick, and there may be a part of that meal that has no toxin.”

The first patient received botulism anti-toxin at Nome’s Norton Sound hospital, and Dr. Cooper says health officials reached out to ensure no more of the tainted seal was eaten. But just five days later, on May 9, another tainted flipper was eaten.

“It was the same preparers involved with both meals,” Cooper said. “Two separate meals, two separate seals, prepared separately.”

That second meal was shared by four people—and left one person “severely ill” and led to three others being taken under medical evaluation after being medevaced to Anchorage. In all, three people—one from the first meal, and two from the second—were given the anti-toxin for botulism.

“The two others, upon further questioning, they didn’t have the correct symptoms, and on exam they had a normal exam, so they were deemed not to have botulism.”

Leftovers from the second meal tested positive for the botulinum bacteria—the toxic spores of which cause botulism.

Epidemiologists say those who ate the first meal have finished a ten-day observation period; those from the second meal remain under observation.

Even when prepared carefully and using traditional practices, fermented foods can pose a risk. A batch of botulism-tainted seal oil sickened dozens of people in December in the Bristol Bay region, and early last year, one man died after eating a meal of fermented fish heads.

Health officials are urging residents in Koyuk—and anywhere else where fermented foods are consumed—to be on the lookout for symptoms of the disease, which includes shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, dry mouth, and blurry vision.